Hollywood and Its Distorted Reality

When Lucy Liu’s character in “Charlie’s Angels 2: Full Throttle” turned out to be half white, the Media Action Network for Asian Americans protested to the director that her biracial heritage belittled Liu as a positive role model for Asian Americans. In this scathing opinion piece, The Hollywood Watchdawg says “gimme a break!”

By The Hollywood Watchdawg

October/November 2003

Editor's Note: This opinion piece was written in reaction to “Charlie’s Angels Sequel Under Fire” by Yvonne Wong, originally published on June 30, 2003.

There is the age-old question that Hollywood has been toying with for years: Does life reflect art or does art reflect life? Their answer: Who cares as long as the end result is green? Hollywood, like any other industry is a business. If you have the product and there is a demand for it, then start stock piling those deposit slips.

Last week a colleague forwarded me an article someone had written about the Charlie Angel's sequel film "Full Throttle" and how it angered some members of the Asian-American community. It's a good thing I didn't eat before reading the article or I might have used it as a napkin.

As a person of color, Hollywood has both intrigued and angered me at the same time. I am intrigued at how movies are made and the amazing things (i.e. special effects) that they are capable of achieving. At the same time it angers me when they let the business of making money influence the individuals and stories we see on the screen. Usually I am bashing them for their practices but today I stand in their defense. Does that make me indecisive or hypocritical? Maybe? But at least Hollywood and I are on the same page.

Hollywood tries hard to reflect life as much as possible because we the audience are intrigued by it. How many times have you watched an episode of say "The Practice," "NYPD Blue," or E.R." and sworn to yourself that you read a similar story in today's paper? The problem with Hollywood is that they are very selective when it comes to imitating life and what aspect of it they wish to duplicate. For example, I wish they had more television programs and movies that reflect the diverse population of our country. Which I last checked was something like 13% Black, 13% Latino, 5% Asian, 2% Biracial. The reality is that Hollywood's output is more like 90% White. According to my figures it should be something like 67% white. Hell I'll give them the 3% to make it 70%. So much for art reflecting life.

Now what does this have to do with “Charlie's Angels?” Well for starters it appears some Asian Americans have been upset over the portrayal of Lucy Liu's character in the film. I do not want to seem insensitive but I do not recall any of the Angels, Kate Jackson, Jaclyn Smith, Farrah Fawcett or her replacement Cheryl Tiegs from the 1970's TV show in which the film is based upon, being Asian American. Does Hollywood get any thanks for that? I'm pretty sure there has been more than a couple of eyebrows raised about this, whether it's some frustrated Caucasian actress or some purists of the original show.

Secondly, it appears that Liu's character is biracial, even though Liu is not and having the character biracial sort of implies some negative connotation against having the character a full-blooded Asian. Fair enough. But what about the counter argument from the individual who happens to be Hapa or biracial? Hey, we can do everything a full-blooded Asian can do and maybe even better. Look I'm not trying to start a civil war here but if that's the price to pay for being devil’s advocate, popcorn anyone?

The third thing that nearly blew me away was the gender/relationship makeup of the biracial character. There was a complaint to this as well. Supposedly the original script consisted of a Jewish Mother an Asian father - a biracial marriage that American audiences rarely see on film or television. For unexplained reasons, the script was changed for the reverse. Before I continue I must note that interracial marriages makeup about 3% of all marriages in the United States. About thirty percent of those unions consist of an Asian-American woman and a Caucasian man. In fact, according to Census Bureau data, in 1995 the state of California had more births to Japanese-Caucasian parents than to Japanese-Japanese parents! Asian-American men and Caucasian women make up roughly eight percent of all interracial marriages. I'm talking about 8% of the 3% of interracial marriages! Most couples in interracial or multicultural unions would be delighted that they are being recognized...period.

First of all, raising the question as to why it seems that it is more socially acceptable for Asian-American women and Caucasian men pairing up as opposed to the inverse is something Hollywood can't answer. It appears that this is more of a cultural issue than anything. I'm sure if the there were more Asian-American men and Caucasian women then we would probably see it more. If you want to ask well how come there are so many Asian-American women paired up with Caucasian men on prominent television shows such as “Ally McBeal” (in which Lucy Liu was paired with a white actor) and in films such as “Madame Butterfly” and “The Joy Luck Club?” I'll answer this one again, Duh probably because 30% of Asian-American women are married to Caucasian men. A figure that sort of jumps out at you. So if that's the union that Hollywood wishes to portray, then give them credit for at least reflecting some sort of reality.

According to the article, Aki Aleong, president of Media Action Network for Asian Americans wrote a letter to “Full Throttle director” Joseph McGinty Nichol. Include in that letter stated the following: "By casting John Cleese as [Lucy's] father ... you've robbed the role from an Asian-American male actor." In addition, the decision to cast a mere extra with a non-vocal, non-descript role as Liu's Chinese mother obviously was a decision given little consideration, as it only perpetuates denigrating Asian American stereotypes of submissiveness and "Oriental" exoticism.

With all due respect...are you kidding me! If I were the director, my response letter would have been something like this: "I respect and understand your concerns about our (Hollywood’s) sometimes warped view of reality but we were lucky to have Liu in the film in the first place, after all if you ever saw the 70's original show...anyway we (producers included) thought casting a Asian American female was a bit of a reach but we had to sort of make the compromise that Liu's character in the sequel would be biracial (in order to appeal to the quickly growing multicultural population) and her parents would be what you saw in the film. This is a business of give and take; you sometimes have to sacrifice something to get something else. In other words you can't have your cake and eat it too. If you do that then someone else is not going to get a piece and it sure as hell isn't gonna be me. Anyways thanks for your concern and the DVD should hit stores just in time for the holiday season. "

African-Americans understand this logic (though most do not approve of it) but the intangible has to do with the popularity of a rising talent that can appeal to a mass audience. An example would be, the film Josie and the Pussy Cats that was based upon the 70's cartoon and the comic book had Valerie, the guitarist and co-singer as a dark-complexioned African-American. In the movie they cast Rosario Dawson, a biracial light-complexioned woman. With so few and far opportunities for AA women, let alone dark-complexioned ones, you think there weren't a few eyebrows raised. Some of my friends who are actresses did. I'm sure Nia Long, Sanaa Lathan, Kimberly Elise to name a few did too. Since the film was major box-office disappointment it was better to let the boat sink rather than try and board it. Some of my colleagues, of all ethnicities were happy when Denzel won his long overdue academy award in 2001 but they would have been happier if the character he portrayed had been more positive. But hey it's better than not winning or being barely recognized at all (as most good actors unfortunately do). Henry Fonda was how old when he finally one his academy award? It goes to show when someone wants your cake. Let 'em eat it and enjoy it, if you're smart and patient you'll get to eat a piece too.

Lucy Liu gets around $5 million a picture; the highest ever for an Asian American woman and only two actresses of color receive more (3 if you count Cameron Diaz), Jennifer Lopez and Halle Berry. OK Liu doesn't get the best roles and the characters might be somewhat stereotypical but keep in mind these three things. One, she hasn't done any nudity; two, she's a household name (which translates into $$$$) and three; she's working. Everything else is a distant last. It's still a far cry from where it should be but keep in mind if Hollywood did become any closer to reality Ms. Liu wouldn't even be a Charlie's Angel.

About the Author
The Hollywood Watchdawg is a filmmaker and a veteran of the entertainment industry who is currently an MFA candidate in Cinema Studies at the CCNY school of Media Communication Arts in New York.

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